As I see it

As Biden’s foreign policy on China comes into focus, Putin cherishes being the lesser of two evils

Name: Biden tells Putin to try to establish ‘rational way’ to disagree
Uploaded: 2021-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
Duration: 1 min 22 s
Description: Biden tells Putin to try to establish ‘rational way’ to disagree

A meeting between the US and Russian presidents legitimises Putin’s embattled regime, say critics of Biden

Biden has already pushed America’s allies and partners towards taking a united stand on China’s perceived threats over Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with US President Joe Biden during their meeting at the Villa La Grange in Geneva on June 16, 2021. Photo: Sputnik/AFP

Shi Jiangtao

A former diplomat, Shi Jiangtao has worked as a China reporter at the Post for more than a decade.

Published: 8:00am, 23 Jun 2021Updated: 8:00am, 23 Jun 2021

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week offered a philosophical take on today’s world affairs, which in a sense aptly summed up the problems we are facing.

“There’s no happiness in life, only a mirage of it on the horizon. Cherish them,” he said, paraphrasing Russian literary giant Leo Tolstoy, after a summit with American counterpart Joe Biden in Geneva.

Basking in the limelight of the world stage, Putin was responding to a question about the prospect of a new bond with the United States after his first meeting with an American leader since 2018, a summit that ended without any breakthroughs.

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Biden tells Putin to try to establish ‘rational way’ to disagree

Experts and news media were sent into a frenzy trying to interpret what Putin meant, with little consensus even on whether the Russian strongman’s tone was optimistic or sorely pessimistic.

It was a classic Putin performance, with the president being evasive and sometimes teasing in front of media while denying and deflecting every criticism thrown at him, from human rights abuses to cyberattacks and interference in US elections.

The highly anticipated summit was clearly a victory for Putin, as Biden’s critics claimed, because it gave him what he needed the most – recognition of the legitimacy of his embattled regime and his standing as a world leader. Amid gaping power asymmetries with both Washington and Beijing, some measure of stabilising Russia’s near-wrecked relations with the US, even temporarily, was welcome news for Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Chinese President Xi Jinping is a responsible leader capable of solving China’s border problem with India. Photo: Reuters